Baking and cooking my way through the cold Alaska winters keeps me from getting cabin fever. With the help of my husband and our four dogs, we manage to maintain our sanity through adventures in our kitchen and our hometown, Fairbanks.

Wednesday, January 4, 2017

It started out as an innocent dinner conversation. We were talking about bear maulings and the Montana man who got mauled and then walked 3 miles and then posted on Facebook, because he really wasn't in a hurry to get to the hospital for the 8 hours of stitches he needed...

Then it moved to the movie The Revenant and the bear mauling in that movie. I said I never saw it, it was too gory and sad and I wasn't allowed.

Dave said, "You saw it because I saw it and I don't go to the movie with anyone but you."
"Nope, " I corrected him, "I never saw it."
"You did too see it, we even sat at the very top in the middle."
"Dave," I replied, "We always sit at the very top in the middle. I didn't see the movie."

Now that would have been fine, him thinking I saw it and me knowing I didn't, but then he had to throw in, "It was last December, and you were so drugged up from your hip surgery you just don't remember."

That got me to second guessing myself. Well crap, maybe I did see it and I just forgot. Could it be? No, I remember movies and I would have remembered that movie. And, if it was so close to my surgery that I was that drugged, Dave wouldn't have taken me to the movie or let me walk up all the stairs to the very top....still...

I sat through the rest of the meal wondering if I had indeed forgotten the whole movie.

And then it hit me.

"You saw it on the airplane." I stated.

The look on his face was priceless. I was right and he knew it, and he knew he had gone just a little too far with the "your were so drugged" comments.

So, while I won't rub his face in it forever, I will for a while. I was right, he was wrong (one in a row) and I didn't see the movie. And I will celebrate with chocolate!

Orange Chocolate Mousse

adapted from Eating Well Jan/Feb 2017

1 Tbsp. Grand Mariner or Triple Sec

1 Tbsp. low fat milk

3/4 tsp. gelatin

3 oz good bittersweet chocolate, chopped

4 large eggs, separated

4 Tbsp. sugar, divided

1/8 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Whipped cream and chocolate shavings for garnish, optional

Combine Grand Mariner and milk in a small bowl, sprinkle gelatin on top and let stand to soften.

Place chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on hight for 1 minutes. Stir well, then continue to heat in 30 second increments on hight until tow-thirds of the chocolate has melted, stirring well after each burst.

Bring 1 inch water to a bare simmer in a medium saucepan. combine egg yolks, 3 tbsp. sugar and salt in a metal bowl large enough to rest in the pan without touching the water. Set the bowl over the water and whisk constantly until the sugar dissolves, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the gelatin mixture and whisk until it dissolves, about 1 minutes. Remove from heat; whisk in the chocolate and vanilla.

Beat egg whites in a clean large bowl with and electric mixer on high until soft peaks form Add the last 1 Tbsp. sugar and continue beating until the mixture holds stiff shiny peaks.

Whisk on-fourth of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture until smooth. With a rubber spatula, gently fold the remaining egg whites into the chocolate mixture just until incorporated. Divide among 8 dessert dishes (about 1/2 cup each).

Cover and refrigerate until set, at least 2 hours. Serve garnished with whipped cream and chocolate shavings, if desired.

Sunday, January 1, 2017

Dave had surgery on his shoulder to take care of some bone spurs, nothing damaged just old people stuff. Two weeks after surgery, he went to pick up a friend at the airport, picked up a cooler and broke the bone they had carved the spurs off in his shoulder.

I, meanwhile, was in Seattle getting the black plague from the Curly Haired Boy and the DIL. I came home sick and stayed that way for three weeks. Two antibiotics, two steroids, multiple breathing treatments at the clinic, and a new inhaler (because I used up the other new one) later, I'm better but still not well.

We stayed home for New Year's Eve, played cards and just tried to squeak into the new year unnoticed and we got a text from my best friend's husband. My Saturday morning coffee mate was in Colorado visiting her Grandson, and daughter, and fell into the hole of the crawl space. She shattered her knee, broke two bones in her leg, and was in surgery. Her husband was trying to figure out a house sitter for their dogs and get on a plane down to Colorado.

My kids offered to house sit so that was one worry off his mind and he made his plane reservations and is on his way.

We hope 2017 is a little kinder.

Well, I got up on the new year's first morning, made coffee, made a fire, got the dogs their breakfast and settled into a little Facebook scrolling. All was quiet and warm. I got up for a refill on my coffee, glanced into the living room and saw this...

Lily on the sofa, that is not a good dog.

She knows she isn't allowed on the sofa, but the little dogs got a sofa for Christmas and I guess she was just feeling a little left out.

Hershey and Riley have the best seat in the house.

I didn't want to make too much of a fuss, 2016 could still be lurking in the shadows, so I just sat down and drank my second cup of coffee.

So here is to a kinder 2017. I hope your household finds no illness that lingers, no broken bones, and no dogs on the sofa (unless they are allowed).